Salt and Freshwater Beaches!

(Jan 27, 2013)

I’ve been busy! (The good kind).

After Sao Luis I hopped on a bus to the city of Fortaleza and then onwards to the beautiful beachside resort town of Jericoacoara. It seems that buses are rather illogically scheduled here, with my bus to Jericoacoara arriving at an odd 2:30am after a bumpy ride across sand dunes and under the starry Brazilian sky.

Jericoacoara is a small town that is entirely dedicated to elite class tourism and the narrow sandy streets wind past boutique swimwear, sundress, and jewellery shops adorned with bright tropical flowers and laden fruit trees. My intention had been to take advantage of some rest and relaxation time to get started on my job applications for the summer, and I worked away to the sound of waves crashing on the shore and glasses clinking in the nearby restaurants. It may seem odd that I would go to a beach town and not spend much time at the beach. I guess I’m not very good at lounging and I don’t think my laptop would have survived the sandy circumstances! As the sun began to set on my first day in Jeri, I went out for a run to a nearby oasis that is slowly being engulfed by a sand dune being pushed by a seaward wind. After a few minutes of walking with wonder among the dry tufts of palm trees buried in sand, I took off again, down through the palm tree grove in the oasis, past kite surfers playing in the waves, and up to the ‘Sunset Dune’ to watch the beach scene as the sun set. I wandered down with the crowds, stopping to watch a capoeira circle practicing on the beach below, and again at the colourful fruit-filled stalls of the caipirinha market at the mouth of town. I spent the next day working away on my computer and hearing about the travel adventures of an Australian woman, Natalie, who was traveling with her 2 year old daughter Lua. Quite a lot of work, I imagine!

After Jericoacoara I bused further south to Salvador where I stayed with a wonderful host, Edson, a resident orthopedic surgeon operating in one of the city’s hospitals. Fortuitously I had arrived just in time for one of Edson’s rare weekends and we spent the following two days driving around the sights in town with music from Carnival blaring and eating as many regional foods as we could find (see photos).

In Brasilia I spent two days very actively visiting the city, discussing the city design and political direction with my host Joao, an advisor for one of the country’s congress men. Brasilia was plonked down in the middle of the Brazilian flatlands as a strategy by which to unite the populated Brazilian coast with the people and resources of central Brazil and Rainforest. The city was built during the presidency of Juscelino Kubitschek and urban design by Oscar Niemeyer. It is especially interesting from an urban planning and design perspective as the city is almost entirely planned using the top planning theories and formats popular in the 50s. The city has even been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in an attempt to preserve it as a model and case study for years to come. The interesting thing about this designation is that it prevents Brasilia from making structural changes that respond to population growth and cultural diversity. It was interesting to see a city that continues to be a place of control and organization, without obvious cultural vitality or organic flexibility. It certainly doesn't mirror the colourfully vibrant and diverse cultures found throughout the expanse of the Brazilian landscape, though it certainly does represent an image of modernity as popular at one point in time.

From Brasilia I embarked on another 30 hour bus journey, this time into the Pantanal, to the small tourist adventure town of Bonito, to enjoy the river culture. This town had everything to do with rivers! Snorkeling, rafting, repelling, swimming, tubing, fishing, animal excursions. Unfortunately my ‘organize-as-you-go’ travel method was no match for the summer holidaying masses who had flooded the city. This meant that I was unable to find space in any of the river snorkeling tours that are famous in the region. I did have a chance to go to the city river nearby and was able to do some snorkeling there. It was amazing to glide through the crystal clear waters surrounded by huge schools of fish that swim slowly by. On my second day in the city I managed to find a tour to a nearby cave filled with penetratingly blue waters below a foreboding mouth of stalactites and stalagmites. And while the sights around the city were beautiful, I’d have to say that the time spent with my host Willian truly made the experience with his wonderful help and song suggestions!

I’m just making so many new friends here in Brazil!

I am on my way now to Belo Horizonte, which is a large city near Rio de Janeiro, and will spend time in the city of Ouro Preto and Ilha Grande in the days leading up to Carnival. 3 Months to go!